'We had a job to do' - watch as 100-year-old Washington RAF hero recounts the horrors of WWII on D-Day anniversary

“Every time I went up it was terrifying, but we had a job to do to defeat the Nazis and it had to be done” - the words of Washington’s 100-year-old war hero and former RAF flight engineer Tom Davidson.

As Sunderland and the nation remembers D-Day, Tom, who now lives in Holly House Care Home in Albany, reflected on the horrors of war, his pride in what his generation achieved and - most importantly - the ultimate sacrifice made by his comrades, including his brother.

Tom said: “It’s vital we remember the sacrifices made by those who didn’t survive, but I won’t be watching any of the D-Day events.

“I don’t need to, as I lived it and saw first-hand the horrors of war.

“You put some of things you saw to the back of your mind, but you never forget, and days such as today and Armistice Day fill me with sadness when I think of the colleagues, family and friends who were lost.

“Being sat here 80 years later makes me realise how lucky I was.”

One of those to perish during the conflict was Tom’s brother Frank, who was also a flight engineer in the RAF.

Tom said: “It was 1943 and I had just been down to London to Lords Cricket Ground to complete my papers to enrol with the RAF.

“I got back to the North East at 6pm and at 8pm my mother received a telegram informing us that Frank was missing and presumed dead.

“It was four years later that they found Frank’s remains along with three other members of his crew and they are now buried in Rheinberg War Cemetery in Germany.”

Despite the stark realities of war being only too evident in the loss of his sibling, Tom completed six weeks of “square bashing” followed by specialist training at RAF Ricall where he qualified as a flight engineer on Halifax bombers.

It was there he teamed up with his RAF 466 crew members, pilot Pat Gillis, bomb aimer Lawrie Lovelock, navigator Ray Woods, wireless operator and air gunner Nev Adams, rear gunner Bill Allan and upper gunner Bluey Edwards.

As Tom explained, the crew were all just compiled in a “haphazard way” which “99% of the time turned out to be successful”.

He added: “We were all just 19 or 20 at the time. We were in a room together and it was simply a case of crews organising themselves to ensure all roles were covered.

“I remember seeing Pat for the first time and he just came up to me and said ‘do you need a pilot?’ and that was that.”

Training complete and crew assembled they were deployed to RAF Driffield, ready to take on their first mission.

Tom’s first mission and the first-hand horrors of war

With the RAF having “suffered heavy losses”, Tom and his fellow crew members’ first operation was a bombing raid on a German chemical plant in Strekrade.

Before taking off on his inaugural mission, the vagaries of war and the reality than he may not return was laid bare before him.

He explained: “I vividly remember our call up for our first operation. I didn’t feel any excitement, just fear and anxiety at what was to come.

“Each time we took off, before we boarded the Halifax bomber we would leave a letter to our loved ones saying goodbye and passing on our love and thoughts in case we didn’t return.

“I wrote my letter to my soon to be wife, Mary, who was serving in the Land Army.”

Before taking off, Tom and his crew had been chatting to another team in the squadron, named C Charlie.

Tom added: “Each tour of service you would fly 25 missions and they only had three to go. They said to ‘fly alongside us and you will be alright’.”

And so early in 1944 Tom embarked on his first mission with his bomber cruising at the starboard side of C Charlie, but it wasn’t long before the brutal horrors of combat became only too apparent.

As an emotional Tom recalled: “We were over Germany, about forty miles from our target when I saw what looked like a big black box in the sky.

“It was what was known as a box barrage - enemy anti-aircraft fire going off all around us.

“We couldn’t fly around it and it wasn’t long before I saw planes getting hit and going down.

“Next thing I remember seeing was C Charlie getting hit. She was on fire with smoke and flames all over her.

“I saw two of their crew members eject and their parachutes opened. I’m not sure what happened to the third person, but all I saw was a torso go past my window before C Charlie completely exploded.”

The next few minutes are somewhat of a blur for Tom as he struggled to comprehend the horrific reality of what was unfolding around him.

He said: “The next thing I remember is hearing Nev on the wireless calling to me and asking if I was alright.

“He said he had been trying to get me to respond for the last five minutes and I hadn’t replied.

“When I looked down I could see I had also been physically sick. I must have been so petrified with fear or shock that I had blanked out for that period.”

It was at this point Tom realised they had also been hit.

He continued: “We had a red warning light for one of our engines and so I quickly switched off the feather and we had to fly the rest of the mission on three engines.

“We didn’t realise how much damage had been caused but it’s only when we returned to base that we saw the extent of the impact as whatever hit us created a hole the size of a door.”

Despite the damage, Tom and his crew dropped their bombs on their target before making an about turn and heading back for the safety of RAF Driffield.

He said: “Once over Belgium we were accompanied by six RAF Hurricane planes who could see the damage we had sustained and escorted us back to base.”

Sadly, despite only having two more missions left to fly, they were not accompanied by the crew of C Charlie, who tragically like many of Tom’s comrades, including his brother, had made the ultimate sacrifice.

Tom said: “I lost about 50% of my colleagues and I don’t really like to think about my experiences, except on Armistice Day and days like today, D-Day.

“I’m still here 80 years on while my brother died in his 20s. That’s why I never get sad in life as I’m lucky to be here.”

Eventually Tom and his crew touched down at RAF Driffield.

He recalled: “I just remember stepping down onto the tarmac and thinking how am I going to do another 24 of these.”

Future missions

Despite his harrowing ordeal, Tom and his five fellow crew members went on to fly another 35 successful missions together and he was awarded the Legion of Honour medal for his bravery.

However, the fear of what lay ahead each time they took to the skies never subsided.

Tom explained: “Each time you got on the plane you had that same feeling of terror and thought as to whether you would return.

“I saw so many people jumping out of planes on fire and planes blowing up and you wonder if that is going to be you.

“It was terrifying every time that German search light hit you, but one of the scariest experiences I had was actually in England when we were returning to base.

“The RAF had fitted a new light system on the runway which hadn’t been tested and turned out to be really dazzling for the pilots.

“I remember coming into land and we actually touched down before the runway and went through a fence as well as the wires on a telegraph pole.

“They never used those lights again.”

D-DAY

Tom wasn’t involved in the D-Day campaign but he knew colleagues who were and remembers vividly where he was on June 6, 1944.

He said: “I was on leave from the RAF because I had just married my wife Mary and we were on honeymoon visiting her sister at a farmhouse in Sedgefield.

“I remember coming down for breakfast and they were talking on the radio about the allied invasion on the beaches of France.

“Whilst I didn’t take part, I had a number of school friends who did. They all survived that battle, although one of them did sadly get killed later in the war.”

While that fateful day 80 years ago is seen by many as the beginning of the end of the conflict, as Tom explained “there were still many obstacles to overcome”.

He added: “Not long after D-Day there were concerns about a Nazi counter-offensive close to the German Belgian border.

“We were sent out on a mission to target and bomb the German supply line.”

Reflections of war and the lessons which must be learnt

With each passing year the veterans of Tom’s generation grow fewer, and it was privilege to speak with Tom as well as humbling to hear first-hand the sacrifices his generation made.

As Tom explained: “I was a volunteer reservist and had come from a protected profession. I could have left the conflict at any time, but I never did.

“We had seen and heard about the atrocities being committed by the Nazis. We had a job to do and we had to defeat them.

“I’m very proud what me and my generation did to maintain Britain’s freedom as well as to regain it for the rest of Europe.

“That’s why it’s vital on days like today (D-Day) that we remember the sacrifice made by those who didn’t survive.

“I survived by having luck on my side as well as an amazing crew.

“Lessons should have been learned and that’s why I get so upset when I see what is happening in Ukraine and Gaza.”

As first-hand accounts and memories begin to be consigned to the history books speaking in person to Tom and hearing his experiences recalled so vividly was fascinating and in many ways like talking to living history.